Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

Provided is a refrigerator. The refrigerator includes a main body having a storage space; a door that is connected to the main body to selectively shield the storage space; a water supply container disposed in the storage space in a state where the door shields the storage space; an ice-maker disposed in a predetermined position of the storage space above the water supply container in a state where the door shields the storage space; a dispenser that is provided to a predetermined position of the door above the water supply container, to receive water or ice; a water supply passage extending from the water supply container to the ice-maker and the dispenser; a pump that is provided on the water supply passage to forcedly direct the water stored in the water supplying container to the ice-maker or the dispenser; and a valve that is provided on a predetermined position of the water supply passage near an outlet side of the pump to selectively supply the water to the ice-maker or the dispenser, wherein the pump is located at a height lower than the water supply container, and the valve is located at a height identical to or higher than the pump.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, a refrigerator is an electric appliance having an internalstorage space shielded by a door and food is kept cold in the storagecompartment. In detail, the refrigerator generates cool air through heatexchange with a refrigerant that is changed to a low pressure state by arefrigerating cycle. The storage space is kept in a low temperaturestate by the cool air and thus the food is kept cold so that it staysfresh.

With the change of dietary life and consumer tastes rising, therefrigerator is getting larger and being designed to be multifunctional.In addition, refrigerators having a variety of structures and convenientdevices have been launched considering user convenience.

As representative devices among the convenient devices, an ice-maker formaking ice and a dispenser are provided in the refrigerator. Theice-maker and dispenser are for providing ice or drinking water for theuser and may be installed in the refrigerator and door.

Generally, the ice-makers are classified into a manual type in which theuser fills water in an ice-making tray and an automatic type in which awater supply container having a one-time ice-making volume is filledwith water and mounted above the ice-making tray so that the waterstored in the water supply container can automatically supplied to theice-making tray.

The above-described two types have a disadvantage in that they can makeice by one time. If a water supply container having a volume larger thanan amount of water for one-time ice-making volume is used, the water inthe water supply container may be frozen due to the temperaturecharacteristic of a freezing compartment and thus the ice-making may notbe continuously realized.

In order to solve the above limitation, a refrigerator that is designedto have a water supply line that is directly connected to a tap waterline and is further connected to the dispenser so that the ice-makingdevice can be continuously operated and the user can get the drinkingwater through the dispenser has been developed.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Embodiments provide a refrigerator that is designed to have a watersupply container in which water for ice-making is stored and to supplythe water to an ice-maker and a dispenser through a pump and a watersupply pipe.

Embodiments also provide a refrigerator that can effectively supplywater to an ice-maker or a dispenser even when a water supply containeris located at a lower place than the ice-maker or dispenser.

Solution to Problem

In one embodiment, a refrigerator comprises: a main body having astorage space; a door that is connected to the main body to selectivelyshield the storage space; a water supply container disposed in thestorage space in a state where the door shields the storage space; anice-maker disposed in a predetermined position of the storage spaceabove the water supply container in a state where the door shields thestorage space; a dispenser that is provided to a predetermined positionof the door above the water supply container, to receive water or ice; awater supply passage extending from the water supply container to theice-maker and the dispenser; a pump that is provided on the water supplypassage to forcedly direct the water stored in the water supplyingcontainer to the ice-maker or the dispenser; and a valve that isprovided on a predetermined position of the water supply passage near anoutlet side of the pump to selectively supply the water to the ice-makeror the dispenser, wherein the pump is located at a height lower than thewater supply container, and the valve is located at a height identicalto or higher than the pump.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent fromthe description and drawings, and from the claims.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The refrigerator according to the present disclosure has the followingeffects.

Since the pump for supplying water is located at a height lower than thewater supply container and the valve is located at a height higher thanor equal to the pump, the water flows back upon opening the valveagainst adverse water-supplying conditions.

Accordingly, even in the adverse water-supplying conditions thatfrequently occur when detachable water supply containers are used, thepump can effectively operate and thus the operability of the pump can beimproved. In addition, the remaining water in a water supply passage canbe effectively discharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view illustrating a door open state of arefrigerator according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view illustrating a machine room of arefrigerator according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a water supply pump and avalve structure according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic views illustrating a water supply state of arefrigerator according to an embodiment.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. The spirit and scope of the present disclosure, however, shallnot be construed as being limited to embodiments provided herein.Rather, it will be apparent that other embodiments that fall within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure may easily be derived throughadding, modifying, and deleting elements herein.

Hereinafter, for the convenience of the description and understanding, aside-by-side type refrigerator having freezing and refrigeratingcompartments that are disposed at left and right sides will be describedas an example.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment andFIG. 2 is a front perspective view illustrating a door open state of arefrigerator according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator 1 according to an embodimentincludes a cabinet 100 defining a storage space and doors 40 for openingand closing the storage space.

In detail, a front surface of the cabinet 100 is open and an inside ofthe cabinet 100 is divided into left and right spaces by a barrier todefine freezing and refrigerating compartments 110 and 120. In addition,a plurality of shelves and drawers for receiving food are provided inthe freezing and refrigerating compartments 110 and 120.

The doors 40 include freezing and refrigerating compartment doors 220and 210 for closing and opening freezing and refrigerating compartments120 and 110, respectively. In addition, the doors 40 are pivotallycoupled to the cabinet 100 by hinges 130. Therefore, the freezing andrefrigerating compartments 120 and 110 can be selectively opened orclosed by the pivotal motions of the freezing and refrigeratingcompartment doors 220 and 210.

Door handles 230 may be provided on the freezing and refrigeratingcompartment doors 220 and 210, respectively. In addition, a home bar 240may be provided in the refrigerating compartment door 220 and a waterusing device 250 may be provided in the freezing compartment door 210.Like a dispenser 212 and an ice-making assembly 300 that will bedescribed later, the water using device 250 may be defined as a devicethat performs a specific purpose and function using the water suppliedfrom an external side.

The dispenser for dispensing drinking water or ice is provided on afront surface of the freezing compartment door 210. The ice-makingassembly 300 may be provided on a rear surface of the freezingcompartment door 210.

The ice-making assembly 300 is a device for making ice using watersupplied from a water supply container 400 that will be described later.The ice-making assembly 300 may be provided above the dispenser 212.Needless to say, if necessary, the ice-making assembly 300 may beprovided in the freezing compartment 110. Hereinafter, a case where theice-making assembly 300 is provided in the freezing compartment door 210will be described as an example.

The ice-making assembly 300 includes an ice-maker 310 for making iceusing the water supplied and an ice-bank 320 that is provided below theice-maker 310 to store the ice.

In detail, the water for ice-making is automatically supplied to theice-maker 310 and the water supplied is phase-changed to the ice by coldair in the freezing compartment 110. In addition, the ice made by theice-maker 310 automatically falls down to the ice-bank 320 and storedtherein.

The ice made by the ice-maker 310 and stored in the ice-bank 320 may bedispensed to the user through an ice chute 330 connecting the ice-bankto the dispenser 212. That is, the ice can be discharged to a containerdisposed on the dispenser 212 through the ice chute 330.

Meanwhile, a water supply container 400 may be provided on the rearsurface of the refrigerating compartment door 220.

In detail, the water supply container 400 is a storage container forstoring ice-making water and/or drinking water supplied to the ice-maker310 and/or the dispenser 212. The user separates the water supplycontainer 400 from the refrigerating compartment door 220 and fills thewater in the water supply container 400.

The water supply container 400 is located at a height lower than thewater using device, i.e., the ice-maker 310 and the dispenser 212. Thewater filled in the water supply container 400 is supplied to the watersuing device 250 by a pump 600 that will be described later.

If necessary, the water supply container 400 may be provided in therefrigerating compartment 120. In this case, the water supply containeris also located at a height lower than the water using device 250.

The water supply container 400 is detachably provided on therefrigerating compartment door 220 and is designed and sized to bemounted on the rear surface of the refrigerating compartment door 220.In addition, a mineral water bottle that is being sold in the market maybe used as the water supply container 400. Alternatively, a specificcontainer may be separately provided.

A plurality of baskets 224 are provided on the rear surface of therefrigerating compartment door 220. The baskets 224 are designed suchthat their mounting heights can be adjusted by being detached or moved.In addition, one of the baskets 224 may be designed to support the watersupply container 400.

A container connecting portion 222 coupled to the water supply container400 may be provided on the rear surface of the refrigerating compartmentdoor 220. The container connecting portion 222 is designed to beselectively coupled to an opening of the water supply container 400. Thecontainer connecting portion 222 may be integrally formed on the rearsurface of the refrigerating compartment door 220. Alternatively, thecontainer connecting portion 222 may be detachably mounted on therefrigerating compartment door 220 by a separate member.

In detail, when the container connecting portion 222 is integrally fixedto the refrigerating compartment door 220, the water supply container400 may be mounted on the rear surface of the refrigerating compartmentdoor 220 by being coupled to the container connecting portion 222. Inaddition, when the container connecting portion 222 is provided as aseparate member and coupled to the refrigerating compartment door 220,the water supply container 400 is first coupled to the containerconnecting portion 222 and then this assembly is mounted on the rearsurface of the refrigerating compartment door 220.

Meanwhile, the water supply container 400, ice-maker 310, and dispenser212 are fluidly connected to each other by a water supply passage 500 sothat the water stored in the water supply container 400 can be suppliedto the ice-maker 310 and the dispenser 212.

The pump 600 and valve 700 may be provided on certain locations of thewater supply passage 500. The water in the water supply container 400 isforcedly supplied to the ice-maker and dispenser 212 by the pump 600. Inaddition, the water may be selectively supplied to the ice-maker or thedispenser 212 in accordance with a position of the valve 700.

The pump 600 may be disposed at an external side of the refrigerator,i.e., at a machine room 140 (see FIG. 3). If necessary, the pump 600 maybe provided on a bottom surface of the cabinet 100 or on therefrigerating compartment door 220 or in the refrigerating compartment120.

The water supply passage 500 includes a suction passage 510 disposedinside the water supply container 400, an inlet passage connected to aninlet 610 (see FIG. 4) of the pump 600, and an outlet passage 530connected to the valve 700 at an outlet side 620 (see FIG. 4) of thepump 600, an ice-maker passage 540 extending from the valve 700 to theice-maker 310, and a dispenser passage 550 extending from the valve 700to a water dispensing opening of the dispenser 212.

In detail, the suction passage 510 is for sucking the water stored inthe water supply container 400. A lower end of the suction passage 510may extends to an inner-lower portion of the water supply container 400when the water supply container 400 is mounted on the containerconnecting portion 222. In addition, an upper end of the suction passage510 is provided inside the container connecting portion 222. The upperend of the suction passage 510 is detached and mounted together with thecontainer connecting portion 222 as a single body and is selectivelyconnected to an end of the water supply passage 500 provided in therefrigerating compartment door 220. In more detail, the suction passage510 may be exposed to the rear surface of the container connectingportion 222 through the container connecting portion 222. In addition,an end of the suction passage 510, which is exposed to the rear surfaceof the container connecting portion 222, is selectively connected to anend of the water supply passage 500, which is exposed to the rearsurface of the refrigerating compartment door 220.

Meanwhile, the inlet passage 520 is connected to the suction passage 510at the refrigerating compartment door 40 and extends to the inlet side610 of the pump 600. At this point, when the pump 600 is provided on aside of the cabinet 100, the inlet passage 520 may be guided from therefrigerating compartment door 220 toward the cabinet 100 through thehinge 130.

In addition, the outlet passage 530 connects the pump 600 to the valve700. That is, the outlet passage 530 connects the outlet side 620 of thepump 600 to the inlet side 710 of the valve 700 so that the waterdischarged from the pump 600 can flow toward the valve 700.

The ice-maker passage 540 and the dispenser passage 550 are independentpassages that are connected to the valve 700. The ice-maker passage 540and the dispenser passage 550 are passages branched off from the valve700 and extend toward the ice-maker 310 and the dispenser 212,respectively.

The ice-maker passage 540 an the dispenser passage 550 may guidedthrough the hinge 130 of the freezing compartment door 210. Further, theice-maker passage 540 and the dispenser passage 550 are received in aseparate pipe until they pass through the hinge 130 and branched off atan outlet end of the pipe.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view illustrating a machine room of arefrigerator according to an embodiment and FIG. 4 is a perspective viewillustrating a water supply pump and a valve structure according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the machine room 140 is formed at a lowerportion of the cabinet 100. The machine room 140 provides a space inwhich a variety of components such as a compressor 141, a condenser 142,a capillary tube, a fan motor assembly 143, and a drain pan 144 aredisposed.

The machine room 140 is separately provided at a lower-rear surface ofthe cabinet 100 from a storage space of the refrigerator. In addition,an opened rear surface of the machine room 140 may be closed by amachine room cover 145.

In addition, the pump 600 and the valve 700 are provided in the machineroom 140. The pump 600 and the valve 700 may be integrally coupled toeach other by a mounting member 800 and fixedly mounted in the machineroom 140 by the mounting member 800.

In more detail, the valve 700 is mounted on a left side (in FIG. 4) ofthe mounting member 800 and the pump 600 is mounted on a right side ofthe mounting member 800. Therefore, the mounting member 800, the pump600, and the valve 700 may be assembled as a single body.

The mounting member 800 is provided with a mounting portion 810 so thatthe mounting member 800 can be fixedly mounted in the machine room 140by a coupling member such as a screw. The location and shape of themounting portion 810 may be variably formed in accordance with amounting location in the machine room 140.

The mounting member 800 is formed such that the valve 700 and the pump600 can be mounted in parallel at an identical height. If necessary, thevalve 700 may be located at a height higher than the pump 600.

The valve 700 and the pump 600 are closely mounted on the mountingmember 800 and thus the water discharged from the pump 600 can besupplied to the valve 700 through the outlet passage 530 that will bedescribed later.

A connection state between the water supply passage 500, the pump 600,and the valve 700 will described hereinafter in more detail.

First, the water supply passage 500 is connected between the pump 600and the valve 700 so that the water in the water supply container 400can be supplied to the ice-maker 310 and the dispenser 212.

In detail, the inlet passage 520 is connected to the inlet side 610 ofthe pump, through which the water is introduced from the water supplycontainer 400. The inlet passage 520 includes an inlet side extendingpipe 522 and an inlet side connecting pipe 524.

The inlet side extending pipe 522 may be formed of flexible polyethyleneand have an inner diameter of about 1/16 inch. The inlet side extendingpipe 522 extends from the suction passage 510 to a portion adjacent tothe pump 600 and is connected to the inlet side 610 of the pump 600 bythe inlet side connecting pipe 524.

The inlet side connecting pipe 524 is for connecting the inlet side 610of the pump 600 to the inlet side extending pipe 522. The inlet sideconnecting pipe 524 may be formed of flexible silicon. By aligning theend of the inlet side extending pipe 522 and the inlet side 610 of thepump in a line by the inlet side connecting pipe 524, the blocking ofthe passage by the bending of the inlet side connecting pipe 524 can beprevented.

The inlet side 610 of the pump 600 connected to the inlet sideconnecting pipe 524 may have an inner diameter of about ¼ inch. Inaddition, since the inlet side connecting pipe 524 is formed of flexiblematerial, the inlet side extending pipe 522 can be easily connected tothe inlet side 610 of the pump 600 even when the diameters thereof aredifferent from each other.

Alternatively, opposite ends of the inlet side connecting pipe 524 maybe designed to have different inner diameters from each other so thatthe inlet side 610 of the pump 600 and the inlet side extending pipe522, which have different inner diameters from each other, can beconnected to the respective opposite ends of the inlet side connectingpipe 524. In detail, the inner diameter of the inlet side connectingpipe 524 may be gradually reduced from a first end to a second end bystepping and enlarging the cross-section.

Meanwhile, the outlet passage 530 connects the outlet side 620 of thepump 600 to the inlet side 710 of the valve 700 and includes an outletside extending pipe 532 and an outlet side connecting pipe 534. Theoutlet side extending pipe 532 may be formed of flexible polyethylene.The outlet side extending pipe 532 extends from the valve inlet side 710to the pump 600 and is connected to the outlet side 620 of the pump 600by the outlet side connecting pipe 534.

The outlet side connecting pipe 534 may be formed of a same material asthe inlet side connecting pipe 522 and fluidly connects the outlet side620 of the pump 600 to an end of the outlet side connecting pipe 534. Inaddition, the outlet side connecting pipe 534 is formed only at astraight line section so that the blocking of the inner passage by thebending or curve can be prevented.

Meanwhile, all of the outlet side 620 of the pump, the outlet sideconnecting pipe 534, and the outlet side extending pipe 532 may have aninner diameter of ¼ inch. That is, the inner diameter of the inletpassage 520 may be larger than that of the outlet passage 530.Accordingly, the pulsatile flow, which may occur when an amount of waterintroduced to the pump 600 is less than an amount of the waterdischarged from the pump 600, can be minimized.

In addition, since the inlet side connecting pipe 524 and the outletside connecting pipe 534 may be elastically deformed in a moment thewater is introduced or discharged through the pump 600, the noiseoccurring when the passage is contracted or expanded can be minimized.

Meanwhile, the ice-maker passage 540 connected to the ice-maker 310 at afirst outlet side 720 of the valve 700 may be formed of polyethylene andhave an inner diameter of about ¼ inch. In addition, the dispenser sidepassage 550 connected to the dispenser 212 at a second outlet side 730of the valve 700 may be formed of polyethylene and have a diameter of5/16 inch.

Accordingly, since an amount of ice-making water supplied to theice-maker 310 is greater than an amount of drinking water dischargedthrough the dispenser 212 when the dispenser 212 is manipulated, theuser can more quickly take the drinking water.

The following will describe operation of the refrigerator having theabove-described structure.

First, in order to use the ice-making water and the drinking water, thewater supply container 400 is filled with water and the containerconnecting portion 222 is connected to the water supply container 400.Next, the water supply container 400 is mounted on the rear surface ofthe refrigerating compartment door 222. The water supply container 400may be a mineral water bottle. In this case, the mineral water sold inthe market is opened and directly connected to the container connectingportion 222 without a process for supplying the water to the watersupply container 400.

By the coupling of the water supply container 400 and the containerconnecting portion 222, the suction passage 510 is located in the watersupply container 400 to suck the water from the water supply container400. When the container connecting portion 222 is mounted, the suctionpassage 510 is connected to the inlet passage 520 and thus the watersupply to the ice-maker 310 and the dispenser 212 becomes possible.

In this state, when a signal for supplying water to the ice-maker 310 istransferred to a control unit or a signal for dispensing drinking wateris transferred to the control unit through an input button provided onthe dispenser 212, the pump starts operating.

By the operation of the pump 600, the water is introduced from the watersupply container 400 to the suction passage 510 and is further directedto the pump 600 through the inlet passage 520. That is, the waterintroduced into the suction passage 510 is supplied to the pump 600after consequently passing through the inlet side extending pipe 522,the inlet side connecting pipe 524, and the inlet side 610 of the pump600.

At this point, the inlet side connecting pipe 524 may be expanded orcontracted in a radial direction by the pulsatile flow that may occurwhen the pump is driven. The contraction and expansion attenuate theimpact applied to the pipe passage and thus the pipe noise can bereduced. In addition, since the water can be sufficiently supplied tothe inside of the pump 600, the pulsation can be reduced.

Further, the water discharged from the pump 600 through the outletpassage 530 is directed to the valve 700. At this point, the waterdischarged from the pump 600 is supplied to the valve 700 afterconsequently passing through the outlet side 620 of the pump 600, theoutlet side connecting pipe 534, and the outlet side extending pipe 532.In addition, the pulsatile flow phenomenon caused by the waterdischarged from the pump 600 can reduce the noise of the pipe passage bythe flexibility of the outlet side connecting pipe 534.

When the ice-making water supply signal is transferred to the firstoutlet side 720 of the valve 700 is opened so that the water supplied tothe valve 700 can be supplied to the ice-maker 310 through the ice-makerpassage 540.

When the drinking water dispensing signal is transferred, the secondoutlet side 620 is opened so that the drinking water can be supplied tothe dispenser 212 through the dispenser passage 550.

Meanwhile, when the water in the water supply container 400 is exhaustedduring the operation of the refrigerator 1 and thus the water supplycontainer 400 is empty, the air and water in the water supply passage500 may be mixed with each other during the operation of the pump 600 asshown in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic views illustrating a water supply state of arefrigerator according to an embodiment.

In FIG. 5, for convenience of the description, a structure for supplyingthe water to the ice-maker will be described as an example.

Referring to FIG. 5, prior to the water in the water supply container400 is fully exhausted, the water filled in the water supply passage 500is supplied to the ice-maker 310 by pressure difference between theinlet side 610 and the outlet side 620 of the pump 600 driven.

Meanwhile, when the pump 600 is driven by the operational signal of theice-maker after the water in the water supply container 400 is fullyexhausted, the water and air co-exists in the water supply passage 500and thus the air may be introduced into the inlet side 610 of the pump600.

In detail, when the pump is driven in a state where no water is filledin the water supply container 400, the air in the water supply container400 may be introduced into the pump 600 through the inlet passage 520.In addition, the air introduced into the pump 600 may be directed towardthe outlet passage 530. In addition, the air discharged to the outletpassage 530 is introduced into the valve 700 through the outlet passage530 and is then supplied to the ice-maker passage 540.

Accordingly, the air is filled in some of the suction passage 510, inletpassage 520, outlet passage 530, and ice-maker passage 540.

In this state, even when the water supply container 400 is mounted againafter being filled with the water, the pump 600 cannot generate pressurethat can discharge the water remaining in the ice-maker passage 540.That is, it becomes an adverse water-supplying condition where theair-co-exists in both of the inlet side 610 and the outlet side 620 andthus the pump 600 cannot generate pressure for effectively supplying thewater to the pump 600.

In order to eliminate the adverse water supply condition, when theoperational signal of the ice-maker is input, the pump 600 is designedto start operating at the same time the valve 700 is opened.

Meanwhile, the valve 700 and the pump 600 are located at a height lowerthan not only the water using device 250 but also the water supplycontainer 400. In addition, the valve 700 and the pump 600 are disposedadjacent to each other and maintain the interconnection state.

Further, the valve 700 is located at a height identical to or greaterthan the pump 600. As shown in FIG. 6, the water remaining in theice-maker passage 540 is introduced into the outlet side of the pump 600through the valve upon opening the valve 700.

That is, by the locations of the valve 700 and the pump 600 and thestructure of the water supply passage 500, the water is introduced intothe pump 600 when the valve 700 is opened. Accordingly, the inside ofthe pump 600 and the inlet and outlet sides 610 and 620 of the pump 600can be quickly filled with the water.

As described above, by the mounting locations of the water using device250, water supply container 400, and pump 600, i.e., by the heightdifference of the water using device 250, water supply container 400,and pump 600, the water can be supplied to the pump 600 when the valve700 is opened, the adverse water supply condition in the water supplypassage can be quickly eliminated. Therefore, the pump 600 can generatenormal discharge pressure and thus the remaining water in the ice-makerpassage 540 can be discharged. In addition, the water can be effectivelysupplied from the water supply container 400.

Meanwhile, this principle can be identically applied to not only theice-maker passage 540 but also the dispenser passage 550.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body having a storage space; a doorthat is connected to the main body to selectively shield the storagespace; a water supply container disposed in the storage space in a statewhere the door shields the storage space; an ice-maker disposed in apredetermined position of the storage space above the water supplycontainer in a state where the door shields the storage space; adispenser that is provided to a predetermined position of the door abovethe water supply container, to receive water or ice; a water supplypassage extending from the water supply container to the ice-maker andthe dispenser; a pump that is provided on the water supply passage toforcedly direct the water stored in the water supplying container to theice-maker or the dispenser; and a valve that is provided on apredetermined position of the water supply passage near an outlet sideof the pump to selectively supply the water to the ice-maker or thedispenser, wherein the pump is located at a height lower than the watersupply container, and the valve is located at a height identical to orhigher than the pump.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, whereinthe storage space comprises at least one of or both a freezingcompartment and a refrigerating compartment; and the door comprises atleast one of ro both a freezing compartment door and a refrigeratingcompartment door that closes and opens the freezing and refrigeratingcompartments, respectively.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 2,wherein the water supply container is provided on a side of one of thefreezing and refrigerating compartment doors.
 4. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 2, wherein the ice-maker is provided on a side of oneof the freezing and refrigerating compartment doors.
 5. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein the pump and the valve are coupled to eachother by a mounting member and the mounting member is fixedly mounted onan outer side of the refrigerator.
 6. The refrigerator according toclaim 5, further comprising a machine room provided on a lower portionof the main body, wherein the mounting member is mounted in the machineroom.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the pump and thevalve are provided at a lower side of an inside of the refrigeratingcompartment.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the watersupply container is configured to be removable from the refrigeratingcompartment or the refrigerating compartment door.
 9. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein the water supply passage extends to theice-maker and the dispenser through a hinge connecting the door to themain body.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the watersupply passage comprises: a suction passage disposed within the watersupply container; an inlet passage having a first end connected to thesuction passage and a second end connected to an inlet side of the pump;an outlet passage connected to the valve at an outlet side of the pump;an ice-maker passage extending from the valve to the ice-maker; and adispenser passage extending from the valve to an water outlet of thedispenser.
 11. The refrigerator according to claim 10, furthercomprising a container connecting portion that is detachably connectedto a rear surface of the door, wherein the water supply container isselectively coupled to the container connecting portion.
 12. Therefrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the suction passage passesthrough and integrally formed with the container connecting portion. 13.The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the suction passage isselectively connected to the inlet passage by detachably mounting thecontainer connecting portion on the door.